You need to read carefully
by The Tambourine Man
Summary: Irina did not realize what she had agreed to.
The call came around 5:00. "Hey, Irina, it's Rook." 'Rook' was not actually his name, but he had given up on anyone actually remembering his real name.

"Hello."

"Hey, I got a few missions I was going to do tonight. Could you help out?"

"Sure."

"Well… let me send you the descriptions and see if you still want to them."

She was looking at them on her communicator a second later. Hunt some tyrant over in Oblivia, collect some kind of flower, pay not bad, some comment from the person who made the request she never bothered reading…

"I'm in."

"R-really? You want to do it?"

"Of course."

"You're okay with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" The annoyance was clear in her voice.

"Well, alright then! Be ready to go in an hour."

She had her knife sharpened, her gun cleaned, and her skell fueled and ready to go by 6:00. She met Rook by the east gate.

Rook was easy to enough to notice. The man was at least six feet tall, with silver hair and a diagonal scar across his face. Irina hadn't thought much of him when he first saw him; it seemed obvious his mim had likely been designed more to look cool than to resemble his actual body.

She looked around, but didn't see anyone else. "Is it really just us tonight?"

"Yep, just us!" In retrospect, the fact that he was smiling should've been the first tip off. "C'mon, we don't have much time."

The sun was down by the time they'd reached southeast Oblivia. Irina was on guard for the target. This Simius? No. That Falsaxum? No.

"Target spotted. It's on now!"

The AR display highlighted the enemy. No wonder she had trouble finding it- they had been sent to kill an Ovis.

"Are you kidding me!?" She could barely hear herself over the roar of laser cannons from Rook's skell, leaving only a charred crater where their foe had been.

"What? That was a tough enemy." Rook lied. "So, you ready for the next job, or do you want to head back?"

No, she did not want to help. She did not want to go stumbling around in a desert at night, and after this stunt she really didn't care if Rook ran into some giant sandworm all by himself-

She landed her skell. "Fine. What are we looking for?" She said with no small amount of annoyance.

It really wasn't hard to see; the moons provided good enough illumination. It was, however, rather cold. While Rook didn't seem to notice, Irina was having trouble not shivering. Rook pointed off in one direction.

"It'll be warmer that way."

The temperature did gradually grow more comfortable, but the plant they where looking for was nowhere to be found. Before long, they'd come to the familiar sight of the Leaning Ring, and the pool underneath it. Rook took a seat by the bank.

"You wouldn't mind resting, would you? " He asked. "All the walking's boring. I want to chat for a little bit."

"Since when were you so talkative?" Irina asked, taking a seat next to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I've just got a lot on my mind tonight. Have you thought about what you'll do after we find the Lifehold?"

"I still have a promise to fulfill: We wake up Marcus, first thing. After that, it's back to work, same as ever."

Rook was silent for a moment. "I was trying to get at something else. There's one thing our real bodies can do that Mims can't." He started to grin. "Once we find the Lifehold, it'll be time to start repopulating. And I'm planning on doing my part."

Irina sputtered "You… What? You? You! You idiot! I can't believe you!" She had to take a moment. Be calm. Be composed. She can respond to this in a measured manner. "So, have you got the Colonel in your sights?" she spat, having forgotten she was not good at staying composed.

"You think I want Elma?" There was confusion in his voice, and what sounded like a bit of… pain? "That's what everyone's thinking, isn't it? The star BLADE and her protégé. Living in the same barrack. Together on every important mission. Even raising a kid together." He turned his gaze from the sky to Irina. "Everyone's talking about it, and no one knows anything. There's a lot between Elma and I, but there's nothing romantic."

He seemed to be struggling to not raise his voice. It was quiet for a moment, though she could faintly hear him taking a few deep breaths.

"She's not my type. She's too… cold." He said finally. "And, also, that wasn't what I meant. I was thinking of getting transferred to the Mediators and doing some work as a matchmaker."

"Really? Never thought of you as a romantic."

"Whataya mean? I've already helped get plenty of people get together. I even got another request today. And not an easy one, either; some woman fell for an _Orphean_ , apparently."

"Heh. You're really going to try that, aren't you?" She couldn't hide the amusement in her voice.

"A BLADE never backs down from a job. Like a wise compatriot of mine once said, you charge ahead and worry about things later."

"This wasn't the kind of situation I meant."

"I see no reason not to try. And, of course, if I did, I'd be happy to have you as my partner."

"…Me? Th-there's no way I could do that!"

"You never know, you could be good at it."

"Do you really think so?" she said, a little incredulously.

"You could be. If nothing else, you do care enough about people to put your all into helping them." The moonlight was bright enough for him to see her raising her eyebrow. "It's true. Even if you're not the warm and fuzzy type."

Irina looked away from him, certainly not blushing.

They were both silent for some time after. Rook seemed to be stargazing, and Irina followed suite. She knew, in a sense, that the stars in the sky here weren't the same ones on earth. It was harder to appreciate that this jumble of stars wasn't the same jumble she used to see, at least until she realized she couldn't see Orion.

Finally, Rook asked, quietly, "Do you remember Fraisie?"

Her head swam with disturbing memories. The poisoned water, the slaughter in Cauldros, the lies. "I remember" Irina said darkly.

"I was talking to Letric the other day. He said he would welcome her back, if she was willing to repent."

"He's too nice."

"I don't know. As mad as I was at her, I found myself thinking, 'If someone really wanted to turn over a new leaf, shouldn't they get a chance?'" He let out a sigh. "So, I promised myself I would do that. I'd let people have a second chance, if they were willing to try. "

"Even Lao?" She could see him tense at the mention of his name.

"Yeah, even him. I'd give him a big punch in the face and say I forgave him."

"You really hate him, don't you?"

"Yeah." Rook said, biting back the urge to rant.

"So why did you stop the Colonel? Why not just let her shoot him?"

"Killing him wasn't as important as getting the data back." Said Rook, a little too stiffly.

"Is that really all it was?"

"…She was pointing a gun at Lin. I had to get her to back down."

"You really thought the Colonel would shoot her?"

"You thought she wouldn't."

"Of course not. Lin's like a sister to her."

"She's like a daughter to me. I… guess I don't always think rationally if she's in danger. But, as much as I want to believe in Elma…" Rook sighed. "I think she is cold enough to do something like that."

He was quiet for a moment, once again. "Well, if I'm opening up about everything tonight… I have to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"It's something Elma said to Vandham the other day. About how you just keep throwing yourself into danger. Irina, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"What? Why would even think that?"

"Because you're reckless. You keep taking more and more dangerous missions. You don't maintain your armor. You're still hurting after losing Leon and Marcus."

"I have more important things to worry about than myself."

"Yeah. You're always watching our backs in a fight. You're always willing to pitch in. But being selfish or selfless is about priorities; just neglecting yourself isn't helping anyone." Irina scowled at him. "I'm not the only one who's worried; Elma and Gwin have been thinking the same thing. "

"So what do you want me to do?"

Rook thought for a moment. "How about a deal: If one of us is going on a real dangerous mission, we try to take the other. I'll help you take care of your armor, and you can help me maintain my weapons. If one of us is hurting, we let the other help us. If you won't watch your back, then let me do it for you; you watch mine, and I know I won't have anything to worry about."

"That's a lot to agree to. Let me think about it." Rook didn't miss something tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I can live with that." Wasn't there some mission they were supposed to be doing? Yet, somehow, getting back up didn't sound too appealing. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Just a bit. You got anything?"

"A few MREs. You want one?"

"Sure." She bit into the block of nutrients Rook handed her, savoring the boiled-cardboard flavor.

"Sorry it's not much. I'll make sure we've got something better on out next date."

Irina suddenly had trouble swallowing. "Date? Date!? What the hell are you talking about?"

Now it was Rook scowling at her. "Didn't you read the mission info?"

"Kill a Tyrant. Find some flower. Typical missions."

Rook sighed. He took out his communicator and handed it to Irina. "Read why these missions were posted."

Irina took the communicator: _Hey, my friend needs some food for a romantic dinner. I think a little mutton would be good. Howsabout you make some out of Franky the Fluffy over in Oblivia? Posted by Lin Lee Koo at 4:58 PM._

 _Also, some flowers would be good. I hear there's some desert blossom with a really soothing scent. Posted by Lin Lee Koo at 4:59 PM._

"I would've posted it myself, but you can't take your own jobs." Rook explained.

Irina rubbed her temples. "I'm a idiot."

"No, I am. I'm sorry. I thought you knew. I shouldn't've tried to be clever."

"Why? Why didn't you just ask?"

"It felt… safer. Like I could just laugh it off as a joke if you turned me down, and you wouldn't think I was just another guy lusting after you."

Irina stood up. "Come on. We have a mission to finish." She made it about ten steps before Rook caught up with her. He held a flower out in front of her. She took it from him; it was a large, yellow bloom that did have a very pleasant aroma. "You had this the whole time, didn't you?" She asked, deadpan.

"Yeah."

Irina sighed again. "Did you mean what you said, about second chances?"

Rook nodded. "Of course."

"Then, I'll try giving you one. You want to be with me, then just be frank about it."

"With plea-" Rook was cut off by his communicator ringing.

"This is Rook."

"Are you two still out?" Elma asked.

"We were just heading back."

"You shouldn't. Are you two ready for battle?" Rook looked to Irina. Irina nodded.

"Yeah. What's going on? Are there any Ganglion in the area?"

"No. It's bigger than that. The data analysis is finished. We found the Lifehold. I'm sending the coordinates to you now. We'll rendezvous there. Elma out." Terse, but it seems there wasn't much time to talk.

Rook put his communicator away. "Well then. Let's get going. We can have breakfast once we get back to NLA. You and Marcus are going to love my omelettes."

"One thing," Irina said, "That deal you were talking about?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to make any big promises, but… For this battle, I'll take it. You watch me, I'll watch you." She smirked, adding "Besides, a man who'd attack a Milesaur with a knife needs all the help he can get."

"I only did that once." Rook protested.

 **Author's Note: I really to focus on finishing my multi-chapter stories, but I couldn't get this one out of my head. I've been on a huge Xenoblade X kick over the last few months. I'd first conceived this story as an exercise in indirection; It would've been about Rook trying to communicate to Irina that he loved her without saying as much. That idea fell by the wayside as I realized the concept didn't some like something Irina would respond positively to. Stylistically, it feels like a bit of a step backwards for me, since it's very heavy on dialogue with less of the introspective narration of** _ **Another Sunset.**_ **Also, in regards to Rook: I was going for a character who generally jokes around and tries to act tough and flippant, but is inwardly more compassionate and emotional. Did that work at all? Did I get Irina in character? Whatever you have to say, I'm all ears.**


End file.
